Saudi Arabia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 9
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 41
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Executions are carried out in public with a sword
- News items in the archive
- 1,878
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Saudi Arabia is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 9 executions in the country, against 41 the year before. The archive holds 1,878 news items on Saudi Arabia, from 1999 to today.
In Saudi Arabia the death penalty applies to murder, drug offences, terrorism and certain offences under sharia law. The usual method is beheading, in some cases carried out in public. Executions are often announced in groups by the official press agency and a significant share of them involve foreign nationals.
The system of diya, the compensation a victim's family may accept in place of an execution, leaves some sentences reversible until the last moment. The archive gathers official announcements, individual cases and the campaigns to stop them.
Latest news
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2008IraqDEATH PENALTY
IRAQ SENDS 8 SAUDIS HOME
eight Saudi Arabian nationals jailed in Iraq were sent home ahead of a new extradition treaty between the two countries.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2008KuwaitDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. TWO DEATH SENTENCES COMMUTED
a Saudi Arabian court overruled the verdict of a lower court and sentenced a Kuwaiti girl and her brother to 20 years in jail for killing their sister in a desert in Saudi Arabia before surrendering themselves to Saudi authorities, reports Awan daily.
- AUGUST 31, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI BEHEADS CITIZEN FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Saudi authorities announced the beheading of a citizen convicted of drug trafficking.
- AUGUST 30, 2008MaliDEATH PENALTY
MALIAN MAN BEHEADED IN SAUDI ARABIA
a Malian man convicted of serial robbery and attempted rape was put to death by the sword in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca.
- AUGUST 29, 2008PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTANI BEHEADED IN SAUDI FOR MURDER
a Pakistani man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca after the victim's family refused "blood money."
- AUGUST 26, 2008Sri LankaDEATH PENALTY
the Supreme Judicial Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upheld the objection filed by the attorney of
the Supreme Judicial Council of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia upheld the objection filed by the attorney of
- AUGUST 21, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA EXECUTES TWO PAKISTANIS FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Saudi Arabia executed two Pakistanis convicted of smuggling heroin into the kingdom, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement.
JULY 27, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDIS FACE SOARING BLOOD-MONEY SUMS; TRIBES, FAMILIES ARE DEMANDING MILLIONS
the Washington Post reported on the case of Badr al-Hasnani, who was 18 when he got into a fight with a soccer rival and fatally stabbed him, in a discussion on the soaring cost of blood money in Saudi Arabia.
JULY 23, 2008NigeriaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. NIGERIAN EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a convicted Nigerian drug trafficker was beheaded by the sword in the holy city of Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia, the interior ministry said.
- JULY 8, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Qatar freed a Saudi Arabian sentenced to death...
Qatar freed a Saudi Arabian sentenced to death...
- JULY 1, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
three overseas Filipino workers...
three overseas Filipino workers...
- JUNE 22, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI EXECUTION OF SYRIANS BLASTED
a Syrian human rights activist said Saudi execution of Syrian nationals was illegal and politically-motivated, adding Saudi Arabia's judicial apparatus was not independent.
JUNE 21, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. MAN BEHEADED BY SWORD FOR MURDER
a Saudi Arabian man was beheaded by the sword afterbeing convicted of killing a compatriot
JUNE 11, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI MAN BEHEADED FOR KILLING COMPATRIOT
a Saudi Arabian man, condemned to death for murdering a compatriot, was beheaded
- JUNE 8, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said it beheaded a man convicted of murdering
- MAY 31, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA DECAPITATES TWO MEN FOR MURDER
the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry beheaded two men convicted of murdering two fellow citizens in separate incidents
- MAY 25, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI BEHEADED FOR RAPE, ROBBERY
Saudi Arabia's Interior Ministry said authorities beheaded a local man convicted of armed robbery and raping a woman.
- MAY 17, 2008BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA BEHEADS BANGLADESHI CONVICTED OF MURDER
Saudi authorities beheaded a Bangladeshi man convicted of killing a Saudi citizen over a money
- MAY 13, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH APPEALS TURKISH BARBER’S DEATH FOR BLASPHEMY
Human Rights Watch called on Saudi Arabia to dismiss a death sentence against a Turkish barber convicted of "cursing the name of God" in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
- MAY 12, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. SAUDI BEHEADED FOR MURDER
a Saudi national was beheaded by the sword after being convicted of murdering a compatriot
- MAY 11, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MAN BEHEADED FOR MURDER IN ARAR
a Saudi Arabian national was beheaded by the sword after being convicted of killing a compatriot
- MAY 6, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. DEATH SENTENCE FOR BAHRAINI COMMUTED
in Saudi Arabia, the death sentence of Bahraini national Maki Ali Abbas, 46, was commuted
MAY 2, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. ENVOY DENIES FINALISATION OF TURK’S DEATH SENTENCE
news reports stated that Saudi Arabian authorities approved the execution order of a Turkish
- MAY 1, 2008PakistanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. 3 PAKISTANIS EXECUTED FOR HASHISH SMUGGLING
Zargar Sadajan, Roajan Sodajar, and Naik Mohammed Malak Mohammed, all Pakistanis, were
- APRIL 29, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
LEBANON'S AL-MANAR TV REPORTS SYRIAN PROTESTS OVER SAUDI EXECUTIONS
the families of Syrian prisoners and inmates being held in Saudi Arabia staged a sit-in in front of the Saudi Embassy in Damascus for the third time.
- APRIL 28, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI SAYS BEHEADINGS OF SYRIANS NOT POLITICAL
Saudi Arabian Justice Minister Abdullah al-Sheikh said there was nothing political behind recent beheadings of Syrians in the ultra-conservative kingdom, amid strained ties between the two countries.
- APRIL 25, 2008JordanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OBTAINS SECRET VIDEO SHOWING HORROR OF BEHEADING
Amnesty International received secretly filmed grisly footage of a man being beheaded in Saudi Arabia.
APRIL 25, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI BEHEADS PAKISTANIS, SYRIAN FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
two Pakistanis and a Syrian convicted of smuggling drugs were beheaded by the
- APRIL 22, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
STATELESS RESIDENT EXECUTED IN SAUDI ARABIA
a stateless resident was beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia after he was
APRIL 21, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA SENTENCES 30 SYRIANS TO DEATH - ACTIVISTS
Saudi Arabia sentenced to death at least 30 Syrians in recent months for alleged